Let's not kid ourselves: the offense carried the team to victory on Sunday versus the Redskins. Sure, the defensive ends had a good day on defense--particularly Michael Johnson who won our Unsung Hero of the Week Award--but the unit gave up 31 points and 434 yards. It's hard to call someone on that side of the ball your MVP.
So, we're looking solely to the offense this week for our MVP. Tight end Jermaine Gresham had a good game on Sunday, which marked the first time on Sunday that he did anything of note in 2012. He had five receptions for 64 yards and a tough touchdown reception, where he fought through three tacklers and reached the ball over the goalline. He had a dropped pass and still has a way to go to start living up to the expectations that Bengals fans have, but maybe this game is an indication that he's starting to turn a corner.
Though Gresham played well, his contributions to the victory weren't in the same echelon as the team's No.1 wide receiver and their quarterback. Andy Dalton has strung together two offensive performances that rival the Boomer Esiason days. Against the Browns and Redskins, respectively, Dalton has amassed nearly 650 passing yards and six touchdowns. The day he had against each team mirrored each other and he has done an amazing job of spreading the ball around.
But, since we gave the game ball to Dalton last week, we thought that we would be fair and hand it out to A.J. Green. The second-year receiver dominated once again for arguably his best performance as a pro with nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown. His 73-yard touchdown catch from Mohamed Sanu was not only the longest of his career, but it set the tone for the game and could be deemed the decisive play of Sunday.
Who gets your vote for this week's most valuable player?